Reasons To Keep On 'Keeping On' (pt-1) - [2 Corinthians 5:1-4]

Bethlehem Bible Church iconBethlehem Bible Church

0 views

0 comments

00:00
If you would, please turn your Bibles, 2 Corinthians chapter 5, 2 Corinthians 5.
00:06
We sang in a couple of the songs tonight, one of them, when this poor, lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave, and that will happen.
00:16
But then in a nobler, sweeter song, I'll sing thy power to save. And one of the other ones talked about how that we blossom and we flourish, but we also begin to wither and perish.
00:31
And to introduce this message this evening, I'd just like to say that there are all kinds of motivations in life.
00:45
An athlete is motivated by the challenge to break a record or maybe win the gold. And employees at a company, they may be motivated by the benefits package or the compensation, the technical challenge, or maybe even the promotion.
01:00
The archeologist, the astronaut, the ocean explorer or scientist, for that new discovery and so on.
01:09
With all the hardship that they endure, with all of the pains, with all of the regiments that they must go through, they still push.
01:18
And they keep on keeping on until they win the gold, until they capture the prize, until they make the discovery, or until they reach that position in their career that they've desired.
01:29
But I want to look at tonight what is it that is the proper motivation for a
01:35
Christian. What about those who are laboring for Jesus Christ in the trenches of day -to -day and week -to -week and month -to -month and year -to -year ministry?
01:45
The Apostle Paul writes these words in 2 Corinthians 5 and in verse 1, being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
02:24
Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who has also given unto us the earnest of the
02:30
Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the
02:37
Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight, we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the
02:48
Lord. We are going to look at chapter 5, but preceding chapter 5 is chapter 4, and I'd like for you just to turn back with me and just notice some of the words that Paul used here.
03:00
In chapter 4, the Apostle Paul deals with the ministry of serving
03:07
Jesus Christ. In verses 1 -3, he speaks of the characteristics of the minister or of the servant, where they are those who endure, those who are honest, those who are not crafty, and those who handle the word of God properly.
03:22
And then verses 7 -12, he deals with the dangers and the trials of ministry.
03:27
And there he speaks that he and those that labored with him were troubled on every side.
03:34
They were perplexed. They were persecuted. They suffered for the sake of Jesus Christ.
03:40
And if that was the whole picture, it would be pretty bleak. It would be time to close the book and let's go home. But that's not the end of his account here.
03:48
At the end of chapter 4, he begins to deal with the subject of the hope of the minister or the hope of the servant.
03:56
And what he says, if you'll look in verse 14 with me, he says, And he then goes on.
04:22
He says, Paul says we don't want to quit.
04:34
We are not going to be numbered among those who cast in the towel, throw it in and quit and walk away from ministry or from serving
04:41
Christ. He says, And it's amazing to think about it.
04:55
If you consider here in this chapter beforehand in chapter 11 of second
05:01
Corinthians, it speaks of of all of Paul's perils and tribulations and afflictions and persecutions that he went through.
05:09
And he says it is but a light affliction. He says it's transitory. It's just it's just a passing thing.
05:17
He says, He says, if you take if you take all the suffering that I've been through, and if you then compare that to or weigh it up against all that is waiting for the believer in glory and all that he's spoken of here and he begins to speak of in chapter five, he says there's there's just no comparison.
05:44
The the weight of of that which will come to the believer far as far as glory and future and what is ahead far outweighs the momentary light affliction here upon the earth.
05:57
And then he says in verse 18, while we look not at things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal in the in the desire for the apostle
06:12
Paul and the desire that I have for us this evening as we consider the word of God and how it is that we ought to minister and how it is that we ought to serve
06:23
Christ and what it ought to be that motivates us and causes us to go on forward to keep on keeping on.
06:30
That's the the the name of this the title for this message reasons to keep on keeping on.
06:37
You will notice that endurance patient endurance to be able to keep pressing forward for Christ is based upon our ability to look beyond the physical to the spiritual.
06:52
It's based upon our ability to look beyond the present to the future and also to our ability to look beyond that which is visible that which we see with our eyes and to be able to look at and gaze upon and meditate upon and hope for and have an assurance of and have a confidence for that which is invisible.
07:15
Notice back in chapter 5 and in verse 7 Paul puts this in parentheses this quote here that we see this aside.
07:23
He says for we walk by faith and not by sight and certainly if we were walk by sight everything that we see around us would cause us to be discouraged everything that we see crumbling and folding and and and and falling apart as far as the world and as far as far as I'm going to touch on it.
07:42
Even our own bodies we could get pretty discouraged. That's why we're to keep a gaze and to keep our eyes fixed upon that which is invisible that which is eternal that which will last forever that which we can stand upon and rest upon.
07:58
And then this is not a you know of course the chapter divisions. We're not in the original and we see that there is a continuation from chapter 4 into chapter 5.
08:09
For we know he goes on to to to come to keep talking about and dealing with this subject of not keeping our eyes on that which we can see but look on the invisible.
08:23
In chapter 5 Paul gives as he started to give in chapter 4 more reasons and more motivations to go on in ministry.
08:31
He tells us what helped him to continue on. What was his support and what was the support that brought him and the others who served
08:41
Christ with him consolation as they labored hard as they ran their race and as they fought their fight in ministry.
08:50
This part of the word of God comes to us this evening as deep and profound truth that all the servants of God can glean from.
08:58
And I believe that what brought the apostle Paul. And as I said before those who labored with him what brought them hope what brought them strength.
09:08
What what was it that kept spurring them on can also bring us hope and strengthen our hearts.
09:15
What supported them and spurred them to press on and not to quit through all the difficulties of daily hardship and sacrifices and the battles of representing the
09:27
Lord Jesus Christ in a dark and an uncaring world can also afford the same support to us.
09:34
So it's relevant. The word of God is for us. It's it's it's profitable for us this evening.
09:39
And I hope that when we when we look at these first four verses of chapter 5 we will be able to glean from it and we will be able to go out maybe with a little bit more spring in our step not because we sang some good ditties.
09:51
We had some great hand clapping or whatever not that I'm I'm not putting down any of that but that the word of God just gripped our hearts this evening and it was that which strengthened us to be able to go on.
10:04
The apostle Paul refers to these reasons of support these points of consolation the reasons that every believer ought to have a continued zeal for serving
10:15
God in spite of the difficult circumstances. I mean let's face reality.
10:22
Haven't there been times when in serving the Lord Jesus Christ it wasn't
10:29
Christ it wasn't the scriptures it wasn't the the church that that we were tired of but we grew weary and we have grown weary.
10:37
We did not know if we would get up and go to the service this evening. Maybe some of you are surprised that you're even here.
10:44
God was good to you and and allowed you to be able to rest maybe today and to be able to come but sometimes we get frustrated.
10:51
Sometimes we get depressed. We get stepped on and mistreated and misrepresented and some of those things can tempt us to want to just run away into exile and just get stuck on some deserted island and just you know kind of have our scriptures and cup of tea or coffee and just get away from it all.
11:13
But we must walk by faith and not by sight. Not let anything that we see not let any circumstance that comes our way cause us to be derailed.
11:22
Cause us to be like those that are fighting in the in the boxing match and and when it's when one side is over and being pulverized usually the the the manager or the trainer on the side will throw in the towel say that's it
11:36
I quit. But for us not to quit for us not to grow weary in well -doing we must walk by faith.
11:45
We must look upon things that we cannot see being supported by the invisible by our gracious God and King himself our
11:54
Heavenly Father our Lord our Savior who has rescued us from so great a death and has set our feet solidly upon a rock the
12:02
Lord Jesus Christ and called us to be his people and yet it just doesn't stop there. Yes God I mean we sang the song who is on the
12:09
Lord's side I am so grateful that the scripture says and what is really important is that the Lord is on our side we will not fear what can man do unto us.
12:18
Our great God and King is for us who can be against us and he hasn't just left it at that he's given us a great book.
12:25
He's given us the Holy Bible the Word of God and in it there are so many precious promises there are so many precious truths and principles that we can rest upon and standing on those promises
12:36
I cannot fail because they're God's promises. We cannot fail and we ought not to think about giving up or quitting even when we have the thought go through our head.
12:54
My aim and I believe the Apostles aim was to strengthen the believers resolve so that they would push forward and endure by faith in all sorts of adversity and I'd like to share with you a series of messages during the time that God permits me to preach the
13:11
Word of God this summer and this is where I'd like to start. There are other places where we could go for reasons that would give us to keep on keeping on or motivating factors or things that would bolster our strength as we serve
13:23
Christ and here I just want to come to 2 Corinthians 5 where Paul is giving these reasons why he and his other fellow laborers in the gospel did not quit or go
13:33
AWOL from their position in the ranks of God's army and I realize as I said there are many many other places that you could go to and as I'm preaching you're probably thinking brother
13:42
Dave you could go here there or whatever that's great that would be another message but here we are this evening and the first reason that the
13:49
Apostle Paul gives us here in 2 Corinthians 5 is that Christians are confident of their own resurrection unto eternal life
13:59
Christians are people who are confident of their own resurrection unto eternal life
14:07
Paul begins this first verse by saying for we know we know this speaks of confidence this is a sure thing this is a reality this is a sure knowledge in the
14:22
Apostle Paul's life what is the reason Paul knew and reminded them that if their bodies should die they had an eternal inheritance reserved for them in heaven strong words he uses we know unwavering words there's no doubt here and what does the
14:44
Apostle Paul know he says well we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved or our body this tabernacle or this tent were to dissolve and true if we just kind of think a moment the body is frail isn't it it's sickly it's feeble it's crumbling it's decaying and the
15:10
Apostle Paul uses this metaphor of a tabernacle or a tent he could identify with that Paul was a tent maker he lived in a day where people were nomadic and they used tents and they also could look back upon the
15:25
Old Testament and remember the tabernacle in the wilderness where that was a place that when
15:32
God moved they struck the tabernacle took it down dismantle it and they brought it someplace else tents are not meant to be permanent dwelling places they are not meant to last forever you just stay in them for a short while and then you move on the body has no properties of being permanent it is not an everlasting dwelling for us this body that we presently live in this shell of clay that we are residing in we know that when sin entered in the world death followed and death has passed upon all of us and as I speak the
16:10
Apostle Paul says if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved our tabernacle is dissolving the body is temporary its days are numbered and the countdown began the day we were born and for some of us the wearing out of the body is happening a bit quicker than others isn't it if you think about it
16:36
I mean I can go to your dentist and get the charts and it tells me that that you and I have got some serious decay those teeth aren't going to last forever some of us
16:47
I look around I can see this evening with me you're wearing eyeglasses because the eyesight is not what it used to be look on top of your heads and my head and we see the hair is graying we are growing older what about the joints of the body some of you here have had some replaced parts of your body
17:08
I was speaking to Flo this morning in the hallway she said her knees are it's just hereditary in her family the knees give out and I was sharing with somebody not too long ago that I think it was last year
17:21
I went swimming and I went underwater and I heard this popping and cracking and snapping of my joints
17:30
I'm 50 years old I can remember the day when I was 17 and 18 and I could swim three lengths of the swimming pool underwater without a problem
17:40
I couldn't do that today probably with the tank on my back I mean we are crumbling we are decaying and those teeth going and that hair graying and the body giving out and the slow movement we can't get up like we used to we can't run as fast as we used to every one of those things is an indication that we are going to die every single one of them our bodies are failing and it does not matter what we do to the body pamper it exercise it fill it with health food and vitamins give it rest and take it to the doctor and these things are all wise to do but no matter what remedy we may try to use to prolong life
18:21
God's word still comes ringing loud and clear that our days are numbered and it is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment old age and death are inescapable and my friends you and I must come to grips with death your death my death but the story does not end there praise the
18:42
Lord because we are going to go on and we are going to see that it does not end there there is a hope there is something that we can be confident about there is something that we can glean from and rejoice in and it can become such a stability for us and such an assurance for us and it is the assurance of our immortality that is what he is dealing with here the assurance of our immortality is a reason to keep on keeping on Paul says that the body is dissolving the body is decaying the body is likened unto a canvas tent that through years of exposure to the elements begins to get worn out and the material breaks down and tears and the tent ropes are loosening and the tent pegs are slowly pulling out of the ground and soon that tent will collapse and what
19:38
Paul is talking about is when the tent collapses we are buried in the grave our life is over as earthly speaking as it is our physical life on earth is done that is what he is saying and though this happens though the body gets worn out and he uses this word dissolve which in the
19:55
Greek has the meaning to take something apart it carries the idea of throwing something down or destroying or dismantling a building piece by piece by piece and some of us as we look in the mirror
20:09
I mean have you ever done this you are just getting ready for the day and you look in the mirror and you just don't see the same person you saw many years ago and sometimes you get to look in this like is that really me?
20:21
is this really happening to me? and yes it is really happening to us yes we are taking on different wrinkles and folds and bends and crooks and we are not what we used to be and you know what we cannot reverse that when it comes to the physical aspect of wearing out and what does
20:44
Paul say though but we have a prospect we have a hope of a better home we have a heavenly dwelling place a house not made with hands he says though the body is dissolved we have a building of God a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens a building of God or it is made by God God is the architect of the future eternal dwelling place for us and he has something wonderful for us something for us to look forward to it is a house a celestial pure immortal body and some commentators have referred to it as a celestial vehicle
21:27
I like celestial chariot myself a celestial chariot a different body a body though similar to what we have because when the
21:36
Lord Jesus Christ was raised they looked upon him and it was not freakish it was not something that was outlandish because they recognized him when he revealed himself to them but he came to them with hands and arms and feet and the hole in his side and the pierce marks in his hands and they knew who he was and we will receive the same
22:00
I love that previous chapter verse 14 knowing that he which raised up the
22:06
Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus and shall present us with you now some of us may die before the time of the resurrection of our bodies but we will still be in spirit absent from this body and present with the
22:20
Lord until his coming and then the bodies are raised and all of the atoms and all of the pieces and parts wherever they might be will be brought together and God will give us an immortal body an everlasting different spiritual changed body one that we can't even comprehend but it's true and it's not made by hands not made by human hands because if it were made by human hands it would certainly be temporary frail and one day fall apart
22:54
I don't know about you when I was a kid I used to make a lot of model airplanes and cars and I get them all together but it wouldn't take long before they were in pieces glue would not work right or I didn't put it together or just over time
23:09
I mean I was coming to the services even this evening and I was looking at the beautiful trees up on the hill of Indian Meadows I think it is over near 190 and right across the street is all this rusted and decayed towers of the
23:25
Norton Company or the what do they call it now? Saint Cobain I used to work there
23:30
I should know and it's all falling apart I mean this is what God has done it's beautiful and what
23:37
God can do will last but what man does it's just so tainted and one day will fall apart
23:43
God is the author and the architect and the builder and we will have an eternally permanent fixed body that will last forever and in that resurrected and glorified body we will spend an eternity in heaven with God our
23:59
Savior heaven is the glorious place that the Lord Jesus promised to us in John chapter 14 verses 1 through 3 where he said let not your heart be troubled you believe in God believe also in me in my
24:13
Father's house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you
24:21
I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there you may be also it's a prepared place and it's going to be a real place a certain place that we can know and count on the scriptures tell us it is so an unbelievable place where mortality is not known it will be the land of no mores no more sickness there will be no more disease no more pain no more hospitals no more death no more graves no more funerals no more goodbyes and no more crying because our heavenly
24:54
Father will wipe away every tear from our eyes and in that place and in that time that our brother
25:01
Lewis read to us and when we will all be changed in the twinkling of an eye and it will come to pass at that time that death will be the end and we will be swallowed up in Christ's victory and we will no longer be shackled to mortality think about it no more shackled to this body which is folding like a tent and this truth this promise of God to every believer kept the wind in the great apostle's sails and we by faith in the unseen preparations by faith in the unseen preparations of our
25:38
God can look forward to the same and this is something we ought to be focusing upon as we go through this sin ravaged world as we see things that are decaying and falling apart all around us we ought to purpose to think on these things to look upon the invisible to consider the things that are not seen to walk by faith and not by sight we ought to desire that which
26:09
God has purposed to give us who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ Jesus himself spoke these words you don't have to turn there
26:19
I'll read them in John chapter 6 and in verse 40 and this is the will of Him which hath sent me
26:25
Jesus said this is the Father's will which hath sent me that of everyone who sees the
26:31
Son and believes on Him may have everlasting life and I will raise
26:37
Him up at the last day all I can say to that is glory praise the
26:42
Lord I mean think about it we will be raised raised up and not one of us shall be lost when
26:49
Jesus was speaking to Martha and to Mary after the death of Lazarus He said these words particularly as He was speaking to Martha He said to her
26:58
I am the resurrection chapter 11 John 11, 25 and 26
27:03
I am the resurrection and the life He that believes in me though He were dead yet shall
27:11
He live that is completely foreign and opposite than the way that it ought to be you'll have the skeptics and the scoffers and the unbelievers who will say you know it's annihilation there's nothing after the grave nobody's ever been there nobody's ever come back and I think if anybody ever went there they wouldn't want to come back anyways but it's true what
27:31
Jesus said I'm the resurrection and the life He that believeth in me though He were dead yet shall He live and get these words brethren whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die and He says to her believe thou this do you believe this?
27:47
the question comes to us this evening do we believe this? the scripture says it but do we appropriate it for ourselves?
27:57
I mean sometimes we think of heaven and we think of yeah one day I'll have I'll be clothed with immortality as the apostle is saying here but do we think upon it and meditate upon it and believe it so that we we appropriate it for ourselves and it is life changing to us and it is a it is a strength to us in difficult times we ought to want to reach heaven but we don't want to do this at the expense of stepping around earthly life bypassing the life with all of its trials the apostle
28:34
Paul spoke to them in chapter 4 but he says and even in these trials I'm not looking at the trials the trials aren't the fuel for my gas tank the trials and the persecutions are not those things which keep me going what keeps me going is my
28:48
God is faithful to me what keeps me going is that God strengthens me and he's with me and he doesn't leave me or forsake me and he's made promises to me and he's revealed the truth to me that my body is going to decay and it's going to collapse and one day be put in the grave dust will return to dust but God's going to do something about that dust and one day we shall all be changed one day we will be resurrected one day we will see and behold the face of Jesus Christ in a body that will be immortal and that ought to give us great encouragement the trials and pains of earthly living are meant to prepare us for the eternal joy and peace and rest in Christ do you want to know what will keep a servant of Jesus Christ running the race there are many many answers as I said earlier
29:49
I mean you could think of the love of God towards us and we're going to we're going to look at that as we consider this chapter you could think of the fact of the conviction and the awareness that soon we will appear before the
30:00
Lord Jesus Christ and be judged for the things that we've done in our body that's another point in this chapter how about the love of Christ that leaves us no choice is in this chapter
30:12
God has changed our views about everything and that will give us motivation to keep on and how about the fact of Scripture that the realization that we've been commissioned by God to be
30:25
His ambassadors those are motivating reasons but here in this beginning of this chapter
30:32
Paul makes it very clear that we are assured of immortality and that truth is a strong reason to press on and it is possible to be assured that we will be raised in an immortal body that we will be in Heaven the
30:51
Scripture is replete it speaks of this Paul's words here in verse 1 we know
30:58
Paul's words in verse 8 we are confident the Apostle John chapter of his first epistle chapter 5 in verse 13 these things
31:08
I have written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life our
31:14
Lord Jesus Christ promised in John 6 47 verily verily or truly truly I say unto you he that believeth on me has eternal life
31:23
Peter wrote in his first epistle these words in 1
31:29
Peter you don't have to turn there I'll turn and come right back to Corinthians 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 3
31:34
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again unto a living hope unto an active hope unto a real hope he says we have this hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fades not away reserved in Heaven for you and then he goes on to say who are kept we are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time when he said it was an inheritance that we're going to get it's incorruptible undefiled and fades not away it is one that cannot decay in its essence it cannot decay in its continuance it's as immortal as God is it is everlasting forever and ever the inheritance that is promised us
32:34
Peter John Paul even from the oldest patriarch from the beginning of scriptures one of the oldest books of the
32:43
Bible Job spoke these words in chapter 19 verse 26 speaking of himself there he is in his misery there he is scraping the pus with the pieces of pottery off his body from the boils that he has and the misery that he's in and he's got his great friends coming to help him out and he says these words and though after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh
33:11
I shall see God that's very important in my flesh I shall see
33:17
God these men knew it and God's word repeatedly declares it and there's no reason why we shouldn't either the
33:25
Holy Spirit assures us that we are born of God and have become God's children through faith in Jesus Christ alone
33:33
God has saved us and made us his very own people and we are a people who believe what the
33:43
Bible says because God reveals it to us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit I love the way that Lewis when he prayed he said let the
33:51
Holy Spirit be our ultimate teacher and how true that is it's futile for us to come here and for you to try for me to try to reason with you from my own puny mind for you to try to understand these things what will happen and something great will happen if the
34:07
Holy Spirit takes the words from this book and opens them up to our understanding and we can take that and live it and go with it that's what's important it is it is the facts of the scripture you see
34:21
Christianity is not based upon feelings we are in a sad state when we allow our feelings to control our actions and our thinking and our will it's not feelings feelings are good when we have them as a byproduct or as an after result of being blessed by the truth of the word of God but our hope and assurance brethren is based upon biblical facts we know what
34:52
God says because he's had it recorded and he's faithfully kept it for us it's sure it's settled forever and we are confident after this life there is something wonderfully better and that confidence anchors the soul and fuels the fire for continued service
35:14
Jesus our Lord was raised from the dead and the promise comes to us that like him 1
35:20
Corinthians 15 says he's the one that went before us being raised we shall be raised also it is facts and not feeling that are our confidence this principle is illustrated in a short poem that I memorized several years ago and it goes like this three men went walking on a wall feeling, faith, and fact when feeling had an awful fall and faith was taken back so close was faith to feeling that he stumbled and fell too but fact remained and pulled faith back and faith brought feeling too the importance is it's facts it is believing what
36:07
God says it is not the feeling that ought to drive and ought to be the motivating factor because if we go based upon our feelings
36:15
I think I'd be preaching maybe to one or two here this evening because we'd feel like staying home we'd feel like cashing in we'd feel like throwing in the towel but fact remains when we look at the scriptures that this is
36:30
God's irrefutable truth this is what God has recorded to us by the ministry of the
36:37
Holy Spirit breathing upon the apostle and moving as it were the pen of his hand and of his mind to record these words for us and how glorious it is when it comes to us that we as the blood -bought children of God can and ought to have an assurance of our immortality
36:57
I believe that if we're confident of this don't you think that it would be a powerful motivating factor in our daily struggles and ministry it is said of Stonewall Jackson in the
37:10
Civil War of our country in the 1800s that he was as peaceful on the battlefield as he was sleeping in the bed in the bed of his home in his bed at home back at home battlefield, bullets flying, enemies there or back in his bed he was as peaceful in either one because he trusted in the sovereignty of God he trusted in the providence of God in the faithfulness of God and he knew that if his body were to dissolve maybe by a bullet maybe by a cannon blast he had a house not made with hands a building of God eternal in the heavens well
37:52
I've got to kind of go on to the next point because I've got to get to the next verse at least for we in this in this in this body in this tent we groan he says, the apostle says there's something that we yearn for Paul says in verse 2 we groan for this reality before we are made ready for heaven we've got to live a life in this temporary frame and we groan under sin we groan while living in these corruptible bodies and desire to be called upon with immortality we sigh in these bodies of clay we desire something better and this has the idea that Paul had a heart felt longing to be free from his earthly body with all of its weighty frustrating baggage that comes with it like sin and agitation and weakness and just the normal frustrations of being confined to a clay pot to a crumbling building and to a tent that is rotting all around us tattered and one day will collapse
38:52
Barnes in his commentary wrote we groan under sin in the middle of temptations encompassed by the cares and toils of life we are burdened with duties and we are oppressed with trials and under all of it we are sinking to the grave soon under the accumulated burdens the body will be crushed and sink back into the dust man cannot endure the burden long and soon he must die these accumulated trials and cares are such as make us desire a better inheritance and to look forward to a better world
39:25
God designs that this shall be a world of care and anxiety in order that we may be led to seek a better portion beyond the grave how true that is
39:37
Don Whitney wrote these words those who have been on a long journey increasingly desire their destination
39:45
I don't know if this happened to you but it's happened to me maybe you've been in a foreign country and you just can't wait to get on that plane to get home the comfort of your own home
39:54
I know I've been in New York City and I'm not knocking New York City I mean some of you may love it and a great place to visit would not want to live there three o 'clock in the morning look out the window people are still buzzing noise, chatters honking of horns take your life into your hand as you walk out in the street and the taxis zoom in and out
40:14
I could not wait to get home in a measure
40:20
I'm yearning to get home I'm groaning I'm sighing to get home and this is what
40:26
Paul is speaking of his burden and it's an appropriate way to think it's an appropriate longing verse 3 he says that he wants to be clothed upon so that he will not be found naked as some in those days believed that when you died and the body was buried that you would be a disembodied spirit floating around and there would be no home for you no place for you and Paul is saying
40:47
I yearn and I long and I desire that after my body dissolves after I'm laid and dust is returned to its dust that I will be clothed upon which
40:57
God has prepared for me my immortal body my everlasting body my spiritual body my celestial chariot so to speak he wants to be clothed upon with the habitation from heaven clothed so as not to be found naked but have a wonderful real glorified eternal resurrected body just like his
41:22
Lord had and take note of his instruction this is very important here this next point because we must think properly about this properly about dying and properly about wanting to get to heaven wanting to be with the
41:38
Lord notice what he says in verse 4 for we that are in this tabernacle do groan he repeats himself being burdened or being weighed down by toils being weighed down by trials and being weighed down by calamities but notice what he says we're burdened and weighed down and we groan in this tent this body which is folding this tent which is collapsing but not burdened or groaning to be unclothed we shouldn't desire in the word there not that we should be unclothed means not that we should just die for the sake of dying for any selfish reason we shouldn't desire to be unclothed this means to die or to shed this cloak of clay just for the sake of dying getting out of this place our focus shouldn't be to be relieved of life on earth or to be relieved of life of pain or the sorrow or the miseries or the persecutions or the distresses to have a desire only to escape is a defeatist position that would only show that we are not as godly as we think in fact it would show that we are impatient and unwilling to do
42:55
God's will by living the set number of days to the glory of God in our bodies with all of its trials and sufferings and pain that God purposes to bring our way to teach us to mold us to shape us and to use us for his glory the desire to die and get away from a suffering body or the difficulties of living in a fallen world is a wrong desire if it is a self -focused selfish desire the apostle
43:25
Paul you'll notice that when he's speaking here he says that we are not to focus on being unclothed the focus ought to be to be clothed upon that's what we want but not to be unclothed not just to die you know get me out of here
43:39
I can't stand it anymore we see this in Philippians 1 in verse 23 where the apostle
43:46
Paul says I am in a strait between two or he says I'm squeezed in here
43:52
I'm caught between a rock and a hard place basically is what he's saying he says
43:57
I have a very strong desire to depart I want to leave this world he says because and to be with Jesus to be with Christ which is far better it's much much more better for me to leave but notice what he says in verse 24 nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful or more necessary for you he has a strong desire to be with Christ and knows that that will be much better but to stay is much more necessary for the sake of the
44:35
Corinthian believers Philippians as he was speaking of there but you get the same idea in Corinthians and we need to understand brethren that there are ways that we can serve the
44:48
Lord here upon earth that we cannot serve in the things that we cannot do in heaven in heaven we can no longer evangelize we can no longer share the gospel with people that they might have an opportunity to come to Christ and to believe and call upon the name of the
45:07
Lord to be saved we don't have an opportunity in heaven to help and support and undergird and pray for people while they're alive upon the earth and help them to minister and help them to go on and be exhorters and encouragers we can't we can't do that when we're in heaven and so if we think that we want to escape
45:31
I think it's a wrong desire to want to just be unclothed it's ungodly and unbiblical approach or desire and maybe you've heard somebody say that I know
45:42
I've heard it in my lifetime where people will people will say in a pessimistic or negative way oh
45:49
I can't wait to get to heaven life is so miserable there's nothing here for me and I will never be satisfied until I get to heaven where Jesus is and my thought immediately goes wait a minute isn't the
46:02
Lord Jesus Christ here? isn't this my father's world? aren't we indwelt with the spirit of God and hasn't
46:08
God purpose to leave us here for a particular reason so that we might be his ambassadors as we can see at the end of this chapter he's got something for us to do and for us to want to choke and say let's out of here and pull the ejection seat
46:22
I mean yes we have that desire I'm not saying that we ought not to have a longing to be with Christ but let the desire be a proper desire
46:30
I mean if we have this wrong desire we aren't proving that we are more than conquerors or living the truth that we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ our
46:42
Lord there's plenty for us to accomplish before being unclothed by death and wanting to leave off this life before God's appointed time is not the best demonstration that we have been powerfully saved by the living
46:57
God and we are recipients of his amazing grace to want to depart before God calls us is a poor testimony of supposedly having victory in Jesus especially if we go around moaning and grumbling about how bad life is as a
47:13
Christian living in this world it's so difficult but Jesus is Lord of heaven and earth and worthy to be served until we breathe our very last breath and he clothes us with immortality
47:26
I think if we think that way we are basically just thinking so selfishly what can
47:32
I get out of it what's in it for me and really when it comes to serving the
47:38
Lord Jesus it has really nothing to do with us it has everything to do with him I got my hands on this testimony of a father his name is
47:49
John Hutchinson I'm not sure of the spelling but he wrote this as a testimony to his children so that when he left this world they would have this and be able to know what their father was all about he wrote these words
48:04
I have not seen clear statistical evidence that fewer Christians die of cancer than non -believers or that they are immune in greater degree from the diseases that afflict the human race some of the kindest, most selfish people
48:19
I have known had more than their share of bad health the fact that they belong to Christ did not insulate them from disease therefore
48:27
I will not follow Christ for promised healing I will not deny or dispute evidence of restoration of health
48:35
I will rejoice at every recovery from what seems to be hopeless threatened death
48:40
I will not hesitate to pray for recovered health for my loved ones and acquaintances I will set no limits on what
48:47
God may do but I will not follow Christ for promised healing I see no sign that Christians escape disaster and accidents more than others
48:55
I have helped dear friends in Christ empty muddy water out of dresser drawers and new appliances after a disastrous flood
49:02
I remember as a child taking clothes to a widow with five children whose house had burned to the ground a bullet makes no detour around the body of a believer therefore
49:13
I will not follow Christ for any promised protection from disaster I will not scoff at amazing survivals nor deny that Providence has and continues to work for the good of God's own
49:24
I will continue to pray for protection from wicked men and tragedy but I will not follow
49:30
Christ for promised protection from accident or catastrophe I do not observe that Christians are especially favored with prosperity like James we have all seen the rich oppressing the poor and justice is rarely perfect in this world the psalmist has said that he has not seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread and in the deepest needs of this life that is certainly true but all of us have known people of integrity who have not been prospered therefore
49:58
I will not follow Christ for promised freedom from physical want or the hope of affluence
50:03
I am not certain that Christians have stronger personalities or fewer neuroses than non -believers
50:10
I do know that there is no bitterness like religious bitterness and no arrogance more insufferable
50:17
I have watched Christians suffer emotional and mental disabilities God wills that the mind of Christ be formed in us and there is no doubt in my mind that the
50:26
Christian's attitude and actions will be improved by his Christianity but I will not follow Christ for any promise of personality enhancement or perfection why then follow
50:37
Christ? why be a disciple of Jesus when life may become more complicated as he has so often warned for one reason alone in Jesus we behold the face of God he is truth the everlasting truth
50:52
God in the flesh I know that in his life death and resurrection
50:57
I am reconciled to God the giver of life I believe that nothing can separate me from the love of God he has all power and goodness
51:05
I trust him in his promises to him I offer my life damaged or whole brief or full of years it matters not yet in this one yet he is the one certain thing in an uncertain world he is to be worshipped not so something will happen to me or to the world but because he is
51:25
God who through Christ has reconciled the world to himself he saved me he is my justification he is the center that holds finally he says to worship the
51:37
God of our salvation to offer sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving that alone is our vocation we offer our lives to God not so as to be healthy wealthy or wise not even so as to gain strength to do great things for him we offer our lives to him because he alone has claim upon us brethren that's a testimony that man is looking at things that are invisible that are not seen that are eternal and he's looking to a
52:08
God who makes promises and keeps them and the promise that we have coming to us this evening the truth that we have coming to us this evening is is that our
52:19
God will clothe us in the last verse that we're going to just briefly look at in verse 4 he says for we do groan in this tabernacle being burdened not that we would be unclothed but clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of life what is the result?
52:38
that mortality may be swallowed up of life MacArthur wrote Paul wanted the fullness of all that God had planned for him in eternal life when all that is earthly and human will cease to be good desire for us isn't it that we would desire that which
52:57
God has purposed to promise us and to do for us mortality will end in fact
53:05
Paul says that mortality here in this verse will be swallowed up of life swallowed up completely absorbed and ceased to be no more and I believe that I would just like to touch on the verse the verses that Lewis had read in 1
53:30
Corinthians chapter 15 there were there were some verses in there that speak of the fact that a seed must go into the ground and die for life to come forth and it says in verse 37 that that which thou sowest thou sowest not the body that shall be but the bare grain that it may chance be of wheat or some other grain the apostle
54:00
Paul here is speaking of in 1 Corinthians 15 37 and through the end of the chapter he speaks of the death of a saint the death of a believer and when we are buried it says in verse 42 so also is the resurrection of the dead it is sown or we die in corruption but we will be raised again in corruption it is sown in dishonor but it will be raised in glory it is sown in weakness and we've heard of all of this puny body frail body decaying body weak body but one day brethren to the glory of God we will be raised it will it will be sown into the ground a natural body but it will be raised again as a spiritual body notice what it says in verse 46 how be it that was not first which was spiritual but that which was natural and afterwards which is spiritual he's talking about Adam and Jesus Christ the first man verse 47
55:08
Adam is of the earth or of the dust earthy and the second man the Lord Jesus Christ is from heaven and as is the earthly or of that of the dust such are they also that are that are earthy and as is the heavenly such as also that are heavenly and as we have borne the image of the earthly we shall also bear the image of the heavenly and there it is what the apostle is saying is in Adam we receive and lived in the natural body the image of Adam's body we lived in that natural body which will die but in Christ we will receive a resurrected body immortal which shall never die while on earth we bore the image of Adam's body but in heaven we will bear the image of Christ's spiritual resurrected body and we will be made fit for heaven
56:06
I conducted a wedding Friday and it amazes me how culture the etiquette has kind of shifted it was a day that I can remember even when
56:19
I was younger when I was coming to church people dressed up and now you go to a wedding and it's amazing what will show up and it's like you know did you look in the mirror they're not ready to attend that wedding and you remember the parable that the
56:36
Lord Jesus spoke of of someone who did not have the robe the proper robe was not prepared to come to that wedding and there's only one way that we can be made fit for heaven there's only one way that we can be made ready to enter into God's glory and it is through the person and work of the
56:54
Lord Jesus Christ through believing upon Christ who died and was buried and rose again on our behalf we will not only receive a robe of righteousness we'll be cloaked with the righteousness the perfection of Jesus Christ but if we die and we will die because the scripture says this tent is folding the body, our bodies will be placed into the ground absent from that body we will be present with the
57:23
Lord and one day when that trump shall sound and the dead in Christ shall rise the scripture over and over and over again promises to you and to me, brother and sister in Christ that we will at that moment receive our resurrected body immortal and we will be clothed with immortality changed as it says in 1
57:53
Corinthians 15 not all sleeping but we shall change in the moment in the twinkling of an eye that's the fastest visible outside part of our body that's how quick it's going to be at the last trump the trumpet shall sound and the dead in Christ shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality as sure as God is
58:17
God that is going to happen and that is our motivation that is what will keep us keeping on that truth that we can take for our very own so when this corruptible verse 54 shall
58:28
I put on incorruption and this mortal shall I put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written death shall be swallowed up in victory death has left its sting in Christ as a bee leaves its sting in the victim and no more can death sting us no more will it be able to touch us oh death where is your sting oh grave where is your victory the sting of death is sin the strength of sin is the law but thanks be to God which gives us the victory through our
59:00
Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul doesn't close his little notebook of the Bible study that he was having there and said you know what we're getting this immortal body incorruption will put on incorruption death will have no more power over us we're going to enter into the presence of God we're going to live forever close the book you know what he says therefore he says for this because of this the therefore is there let's see what it's there for he says therefore my beloved brethren don't quit don't throw in the towel no matter how difficult the ministry gets no matter how tough it is no matter how you yearn to be in heaven and how with all of the problems and the pain and the suffering and the pressing in of the ministry upon you and certainly
59:44
Apostle Paul can identify with that in his testimony but no matter what this is true here's the doctrine but practically be steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the
01:00:00
Lord for you know for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the
01:00:06
Lord my brethren I trust that we can be assured of this this evening that we can think on these things and we can come to a place where we have a confidence an assurance of our immortality absent from the body present with the
01:00:21
Lord and take hope and draw strength from the marrow of this truth what a great reason to keep on keeping on and I encourage you keep serving
01:00:29
Christ it's worth it all and it will be worth it all one day when we see
01:00:37
Jesus let's pray our
01:00:43
Father in heaven we we are awed by your word and we are so grateful for it we thank you for the the life of the
01:00:53
Apostle Paul the testimony and how you used him a man who was stoned and shipwrecked and beaten for the for the gospel sake for your sake
01:01:06
Lord we know that all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution they persecuted and rejected you and they and they will do the same to us as we desire to serve you and Lord that is okay and we submit to the path that you've called us to walk upon Lord please help us and encourage us we have times when we get so close to throwing in the towel we get so tired and so discouraged and at times so frustrated and depressed and yet that only happens
01:01:50
Lord when we look at all the things around us and the circumstances and things don't go as we expect them to go help us to think with the mind of Christ help us to think properly about this truth here that ought to motivate us and to give us a reason to give us a consolation to keep on keeping on that though this tent shall crumble and though dust will return to dust we have the glorious hope of the truth that you have promised us an eternal incorruptible an inheritance that does not fade away that is reserved in heaven for us and we can as the songwriter said stand on the promises of Christ my
01:02:38
King through eternal ages let his praises ring forgive us when we have been so weak and Lord help us to be strong in the might of the
01:02:50
Lord and may your word press upon our hearts may we be changed may we leave this place different people not looking and not wanting just to be unclothed but to be clothed upon and to continue on to keep on keeping on and be steadfast and unmovable abounding in the grace of our
01:03:12
God knowing that every single effort every track, every word every cup of water given in Christ name will be worth it all when we see you our
01:03:24
Lord Jesus face to face all glory and praise and honor belong unto you and we thank you and praise you and worship you this evening for caring so much about and for us in Jesus precious name,